Tearing down a really old shed.

[swimmer_spe]

I have a shed that is about 16'x8', 8' high. It is old and in a few years, it needs to come down.

It has a window which will be removed before it comes down.
It has electrical that will also be removed prior to the tear down.

Here are my concerns:
1) It has asphalt shingles. Should I try to get those off prior to dropping the shed?
2) What would be a safe way to drop it?

 

[Sparky617]

I wouldn't worry about removing the shingles. Once you get it on the ground you can cut the roof up into manageable pieces with a sawzall cutting through the shingles and sheathing at one time. You could try pulling it down by putting a chain around one of the corner posts and pulling it with a truck. Otherwise I'd probably start with a sawzall from the outside.

 

[bud16415]

It depends a lot on how you will be getting rid of it. If you have a dumpster planned you want it broken down to not take up a lot of room in the dumpster with air. If you are going to burn it then you want the tar shingles not to burn. If you are having someone take it down with an excavator they can chop and bust it up and pack it tight in a dumpster. Some town the fire department will come and burn it down for fire practice.

 

[Eddie_T]

With the price of lumber I would carefully disassemble and store every piece that was sound. I'm assuming it's wood construction.

 

[swimmer_spe]

It depends a lot on how you will be getting rid of it. If you have a dumpster planned you want it broken down to not take up a lot of room in the dumpster with air. If you are going to burn it then you want the tar shingles not to burn. If you are having someone take it down with an excavator they can chop and bust it up and pack it tight in a dumpster. Some town the fire department will come and burn it down for fire practice.

I plan to put it in the back of my truck and get rid of it. Twice a year we have free dump week, so I'd bring it then.

With the price of lumber I would carefully disassemble and store every piece that was sound. I'm assuming it's wood construction.

The building is likely over 30 years old and much of it is being kept up on hopes and dreams. Not really worth salvaging.

 

[RemoveMyShed]

If the roof isn't collapsing, I'd recommend getting up on it with a skill saw equip with a nice demo blade and just start cutting between rafter bays on both front and back of the roof as you work your way back towards the ladder, once on the last one go inside remove debris then proceed to remove the rafters once you have them down start taking apart the walls and finish with the floor, be sure to rent a dumpster or a dump trailer for the job